Those construction and prospecting jobs were actually very tough, very tiring, and some even carried a certain degree of danger, but the wages and remuneration were very high. So, except for a few families who had accidents, the vast majority of families were living much better than before.
They felt that all of this was Charles Godfrey's achievement. After hearing the news of Charles' return, they naturally came to welcome him with great sincerity, which greatly satisfied Charles' vanity.
Pittsburgh, after all, was not Philadelphia; this was his true home now!
"Thank you all for the welcome… *cough*." Charles Godfrey originally wanted to give an impromptu speech, but unfortunately, Pittsburgh was quite chaotic at the moment. Also, because the chimneys weren't tall enough, the wind blew coal ash onto people.
The welcoming crowd didn't mind, but Charles, as a modern man, was very afraid, worrying about skin diseases, bronchitis, and so on. He immediately smiled and waved, saying, "Everyone, let's go to the tavern! Tonight, drinks are on me."
"Oh…" The ordinary workers who had come to welcome him immediately cheered.
Although many prominent figures in the town had a purpose in welcoming Charles back, wanting to speak with Charles Godfrey properly, it was inappropriate to be too obvious in front of so many people. So, they simply went to the town's only tavern, and a large group of "muddy-legged" people held a welcome party together.
The town's supplies were still as scarce as before. Now that there was free alcohol, everyone was naturally very happy. However, Charles' wish to treat everyone ultimately wasn't fully realized, because the rich people were very quick to open their wallets and paid the bill for Charles.
After each worker had a drink, they happily left. As representatives of the wealthy, they also exchanged pleasantries before going about their business. Only then did the others who had come with a purpose find a formal opportunity to approach Charles Godfrey and chat.
However, Pittsburgh was originally a small place. Although it had suddenly accepted a large number of immigrants, there were still very few important figures and wealthy individuals.
Charles didn't spend much time with them, mainly exchanging information with Patrick and others. Patrick learned about the high-level information from Philadelphia, and Charles Godfrey also roughly understood the recent development of the town.
In just these few months of development, the changes in Pittsburgh were astonishing.
Firstly, the original fortress was now "in name only." Many of the stones used to build the fortress were moved to construct houses for new residents, and the main residences of the new residents were all outside the original fortress.
Now, the outermost part of the town only had a huge wooden fence temporarily built as a city wall. Various newly built wooden houses, simple thatched huts, and even tents stood within the newly built "city wall." The overall area was probably more than ten times that of the original fortress.
Secondly, there was the development of various coal and iron mines. The original coal and iron mines of Eunice and Rachel had now been expanded, and a barren copper mine, a sulfur mine with decent output, and other mines were also developed. A large number of simple quarries and logging camps and other ordinary raw material collection points were also newly opened.
With the increase in population, another inevitable increase, of course, was farmland.
When these immigrant stocks arrived, it was just the tail end of spring plowing, and they managed to plant some crops. Although not many, there were many people involved, so the area outside Pittsburgh still looked lush and green. As for who owned these farmlands, Charles guessed it was none other than a few prominent figures in the town and those great landowners in Philadelphia.
Although Pittsburgh later developed into an industrial city centered on coal and steel, it was actually very suitable for growing wheat, just like other areas in the central United States. The crops planted were all spring wheat, and they were growing quite well now.
If the original Pittsburgh was just a crude settlement, then the entire Pittsburgh now had become a true town.
Historically, Pittsburgh's prosperity began with the construction of the canal from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. Not only did it later facilitate trade between the two places, but the large number of pure labor residents brought in during the initial construction of the canal also laid a solid foundation for the later development of industries such as coal and iron smelting.
The development of the town is pretty much the same situation now. In the past two months, nearly a thousand immigrants have participated in the construction of the canal and the development of mines.
Adding those immigrants whom Charles had tricked with his eloquent tongue, the total population is more than six times that of the original Pittsburgh, and people are still constantly migrating there.
These were basically free people, mainly canal construction workers. Even the farmers were self-training farmers who rented land, and each of them had to pay taxes. So, when the increase in population was mentioned, Mayor Patrick happily said repeatedly:
"Fortunately, I organized people to keep those immigrants. Pittsburgh will definitely develop into the largest city in the West in the future, and all of this will be our credit."
Seeing Patrick's flushed face and smile, Charles knew that this guy must have secretly taken a lot of benefits from others.
And the few prominent figures of Pittsburgh, having followed Mayor Patrick for a while, were somewhat accustomed to his style. At this moment, they didn't forget to flatter him:
"If Pittsburgh becomes a city, you will be Pittsburgh's first mayor!"
"Ahem! So, are there any problems now? The town has suddenly gained so many people, and you weren't prepared for it. There must be quite a few problems now, right?" Charles interjected blandly.
Seeing the triumphant expressions on their faces, Charles felt very displeased.
Pittsburgh's current development was entirely brought about by him, as could be seen from the workers' reactions. Unfortunately, he had been out and about all this time and forgot to come back and check.
The result was that he saw others taking credit for his achievements and even showing them off in front of him. If he had known, he wouldn't have let Patrick be the mayor in the first place. The petty Charles immediately couldn't help but want to undermine them a little.
"Oh, difficulties?" Those who were flattering him were stunned.
They didn't detect Charles' discomfort, they just felt that this question was tricky and that they would be blamed if they didn't answer well. So, those who had just been eager to flatter Patrick immediately shut up obediently and handed the question over to Mayor Patrick to answer.
This was a matter between the two giants of Pittsburgh, and they would still need favors later, so it was best to keep quiet and not cater to anyone, directly leaving the problem for the giants of Pittsburgh to solve themselves.
"Alas! Speaking of problems, Charles, we have a pile of problems on our hands now!" Patrick sighed and began to complain to Charles.
"Putting aside other things, with over a thousand more people, just providing enough food is overwhelming for us. It's fortunate that your Scarlet Manor has a lot of stored grain and continuously transports it to the town for sale, which has temporarily resolved the crisis. But the price is really too high.
Even our family members have to carefully consider the approximate quantity needed before buying bread, fearing that buying a little extra would be a waste. Many of those workers toil for half a day just to earn enough to buy bread for their family. If it weren't for everyone being able to find work, I'm afraid there would already be people starving to death."
Charles nodded:
"Tomorrow, I'll tell Greenspan to prepare some gruel and provide it for free daily to those who are unable to work."
Patrick only said that those who could work were fine, but those who couldn't work were indeed in difficulty.
His family's granary should be able to supply over a thousand people until autumn. If the grain truly couldn't be supplied, he had no other way besides transporting it over mountains and rivers from outside. However, this year, Scarlet Manor had fully reclaimed land and planted wheat, so the problem shouldn't be significant.
As for the high price, that was understandable; transporting grain from surrounding villages and towns to Pittsburgh would definitely be more expensive than selling it from his own home.
He wasn't making ill-gotten gains; as long as those people had work, they would definitely be able to afford it, so there was no need to proactively lower the price. Now, distributing a little gruel for free was already enough. Doing this was completely in line with American values, and those who complained about the price wouldn't say anything about him.
"Other difficulties are slightly smaller, but there are simply too many of them. For example, residents' lack of hygiene, a shortage of doctors and medicine, a lack of meat and alcohol, and frequent rape cases due to a lack of women. Even with Antoine's militia self-defense force, many problems still cannot be handled. And you also had Jekill take a few people away. Now, we can only temporarily select people from the immigrants to join, otherwise, we can't even deal with those rapists…"
Patrick's complaints indeed gave Charles a headache.
At the same time, he also somewhat understood Patrick's behavior of wanting to show off his achievements in front of him. Fortunately, he wasn't the mayor of this town; if he really were, these annoying matters would be enough to drive him crazy. However, standing from an outsider's perspective and offering some comfort to the mayor, he was very willing to do so.
Charles smiled and encouraged Patrick:
"Respected Mayor Patrick. With so many difficulties, you're still able to keep this town so well-organized, which shows you've done an excellent job. All the residents of the town will thank you."
"Uh…" Patrick chuckled and nodded. "But there's one problem that hasn't appeared yet, but we have to prepare for it in advance."
"What problem?"
"Those wealthy people who came from Philadelphia last time, when they explored westward, they once saw natives on horseback, who didn't seem to be the ones we have contact with. Antoine and I are both worried that these natives might be detrimental to Pittsburgh and want to prepare early." Patrick said slowly, not forgetting to involve Charles' confidant, Antoine, to prove he wasn't lying.
Antoine also cooperated very well, nodding gravely to Charles, indicating that it was indeed true.